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Monday, December 8, 2014

Author Spotlight Interview with R.C. Matthews

R.C. Matthews was raised in the Metro-Detroit area by deaf parents along with four siblings. She graduated from a liberal arts college with a B.A. in Accounting and German and continues to work as a certified public accountant. She enjoys traveling with her loving husband and children, reading, down-hill skiing, and playing board games. Talisman and LIFE are high on the list of favorites at her home.

What genre(s) do you
write?

I primarily write contemporary romances full of humor and I
promise to always deliver a happily ever after. You won’t find a lot of angst
in my stories but you will find strong heroines, sexy heroes and a storyline
that makes you ‘feel good’ when you’re done. I’m guilty of blurring genre lines
so you’ll generally find a little bit of chic lit / women’s fiction elements in
my stories as well. As a result, most of my stories have strong secondary
characters. For example, in ‘A Night To Remember’, the heroine’s fiancée, Jorge
Village (who happens to be gay), is a significant character with his own side
story going on.

I’m also currently trying my hand at teen fiction at the
request of my twelve year old son.

What was the hardest
part of writing your book?

I’m not sure there is anything about ‘A Night To Remember’
that was hard to write. I had so much fun writing this storyline and it really
poured out of me. Okay…maybe it was coming up with original and sexy love
scenes. This was my sixth book so at some point it feels to me like I’m writing
the same thing over and over…even though I’m really not. I always mix it up but
certain words inevitably pop up in a love scene. The essential body parts are
the same no matter whether the positions are different!

Are you a plotter or
a pantser?

It depends on the story. My romance novels are definitely
written by the seat of my pants. I usually have a high level idea of what I
want to accomplish in the story and I write chapter headlines that represent
the main gist of what I plan to get across in that chapter. Then I start
typing. As you can imagine, the end product is usually far from what I
originally envisioned. My characters tend to high-jack the storyline and go in
a direction I never could have anticipated when I started typing. I LOVE IT!

But I’m also trying to write a teen fiction series for my
twelve year old son. Because the storyline takes place in a fantasy world and
it is intended to be a three book series, I find myself writing a fairly
detailed outline – at least it is detailed per my standards. There are just too
many characters and plot twists to fly by the seat of my pants on that project.

Why do you think
people should choose your books over another author?

Gosh, this is a tough question. Whether or not a reader
enjoys one book over another is entirely subjective. Even the best rated
authors score everywhere from five stars to one star. So I think the trick is
for readers to find authors with a writing style and storyline that speak to
them. That’s the beauty of the ‘look inside’ feature on Amazon. I encourage
readers to click on and read the sample to decide if it’s the type of book
they’ll enjoy. What I will say is that I tend to write storylines that are rich
in dialog, include a healthy dose of humor and are not full of angst. A Night
To Remember is quite steamy compared to my other stories but I promise that all
of my sex scenes are written to move the story forward.

What do you hope
readers take with them after reading one of your stories?

I hope my readers always take away a feeling of happiness, a
huge smile and the idea that love is always worth fighting for.

What other careers
have you had?

I’m a certified public account by day and writer by night.
My day job pays the bills so that is my real career. Being a writer is more of
a hobby for me, I guess. But it’s something I love to do and it brings me a lot
of joy to do it.

Do you write under
more than one name? Why?

Yes, I write under two pen names. My contemporary romance
pen name is R.C. Matthews and I use it because I’m in a professional day job
where I’d rather not have people I work with know that I’m a writer. I might
die of embarrassment if my boss read one of my sexy love scenes. Fun fact: My
pen name is comprised of my husband’s first name and two middle names – but I
added ‘s’ onto Matthew.

I’m also using a separate pen name for my teen fiction
series because it is geared towards kids twelve and older. I definitely don’t
want to confuse my readers! Fun fact: My teen fiction pen name is David N.
Sebastian which are the first names of my two boys. When you say it really fast
the ‘N’ sounds like ‘and’ – or at least I think it does!

Are any of your
characters based on real people or events?

Ummm…okay, you got me here. My hero is named after the first
boy I ever kissed. I chose him because we kissed on a dance floor and dancing
plays a huge role in the first five chapters of ‘A Night To Remember’. Brett
used to be Anna’s dance partner in their college ballroom dancing course.

What’s something fans
would find fascinating about you?

Most people find it interesting that both of my parents are
deaf. I’m pretty sure that speaking sign language at home influenced my writing
style which is heavy on dialog and light on prose. Sign language is a very
direct language that skips past the flowery words to get to the true meaning.

What books or authors
have most influenced your life?

I’m a die-hard Jane Austen fan. I’ve read all of her books
many, many, many times over. I’m not sure her books influence my life as much
as they influenced my writing. Her writing style is witty and always brings a
smile to my face no matter how often I read her books. I hope my storylines
give that same happy feeling to my readers.

Where are you from?

I’m from the Metro-Detroit area and you’ll find that every
single contemporary romance novel I’ve written to date has its roots in
Metro-Detroit. In fact, ‘A Night To Remember’ takes place entirely within the
downtown city limits and Jorge Village is running for mayor. This story is a
tribute of sorts to all of the people who are trying really hard to return
Detroit to its former glory.

When not writing, how
do you relax?

To relax I’m either reading, watching The Walking Dead (my
husband and I are die-hard fans), playing board games with my family or
watching movies.

Please tell us 5
miscellaneous facts about yourself.

I met my second husband
through an internet dating site and we’ve been happily married for over
five years. My experience with on-line dating inspired my novel ‘Date
Night’.

It drives me crazy when
people ask me if I’m busy during tax season. I’m an auditor not a tax
preparer. But no matter how many times I try to explain it, my friends and
family don’t get it. So now I just nod my head yes when they ask.

If I watch a movie series
first and then read the books, I find that I fall in love with both. But
if I read the books first and then watch the movie series, I tend to get
annoyed with the movie. Strange but true!

Peanut butter is one of my
all-time favorite foods. My eldest son has a severe peanut allergy. I feel
so sorry for him because it is a horrible and scary allergy to have and he
will never know the joy of eating peanut butter.

When I was a little girl I
really wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up. Not a ballerina or princess
or actress. And I became an accountant. What’s the matter with me? It’s a
little surprising really that I enjoy exercising by the left and right
sides of my brain.

Please share any links you would like listed in the
Interview. Website, Myspace, blog, facebook, yahoo group etc.

When Brett Montgomery is forced to attend a New Year's Eve charity event for
his law firm, he is deliciously surprised to learn that the Irresistible Women
in History Auction has been organized and hosted by the

Anna Cosgrove has spent her life helping others. She is a giver, a self-sacrificing
champion of great and humanitarian causes. She's pledged to help her best
friend in his mayoral pursuits by posing as his fiancée and marrying him. In
return, he'll give her the greatest gift she could ever hope for before her
time runs out. But when her old college crush attends her charity event to
fight for her hand, and wins, she decides to give in to her own desires. For
one night, she will be his. When the morning comes and she must say goodbye,
she realizes that her one night of selfishness has cost more than she bargained
for. Her heart.

The pieces are set. The stakes are high. There is more to lose than gain.
Should they risk moving forward? Or leave their hearts and wishes behind in the
place where they shared something magical, where they embraced A Night To
Remember...

woman he desired more
than any other during his college years. Beautiful, sexy, and seemingly immune
to his charms, Anna was the only woman to refuse him, and the only one he
wanted to claim. Finding her again, posing as the alluring Anna Karenina, he
wins her for the night. But that's not enough. They share many of the same
passions in life and love, and Brett is determined that he'll have no other
woman by his side.

Excerpt:

Brett chuckled and reached out to twirl his finger in the dark brown lock
of hair dangling over Anna’s shoulder where it rested on the swell of her
bosom.

“I’m rather enjoying the look you’re
giving me. You’re so beautiful…but still trying to evade me.” He hesitated
before grabbing her left hand and placing a soft kiss on her bare fingers.
“Dare I hope this is a sign you’re single?”

The man hadn’t lost his touch one
bit. She licked her lips and marveled at the myriad sensations coursing
through her. Lord help her. If they were alone, she might already be ripping
open his shirt. Was she single? At this moment she was single, and she would be
until about two weeks from now when she announced her engagement to her best
friend, Jorge Village. But it was a marriage of convenience—and he was gay. So that
didn’t count until it was official, right?

“Why would it matter?” she asked with pursed lips. “I was never your
type.”

His beautifully sculpted brow shot up in question. “You’ve always been my
type—but stubbornly resisted my charms—despite all of my best moves.” He shook
his head softly. “It was cruel and unusual punishment.”

She bit her lip, recollecting every one of his moves. Such sweet torture
he had put her through. Probably along with a host of other females.

“You tried your best moves on all the ladies,” she said, poking her
finger into his chest while a smile spread across her face. “I would’ve been
another drop in the bucket.”

He captured her chin between his fingers and thumb.
“That’s not fair. As I recall it was the other way around. The ladies were
making the moves on me.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Can’t hold that against
me. Being the star quarterback came with some drawbacks.”

A grin tugged at her lips. “Oh, really? Most guys are dying to have women
crawling at their feet.”

“Guess I’m not most guys.” He caged her between his arms, bracing his
hands against the wall. “All I ever wanted was you.”